Music in church

The visit of the Bishop to St Peter's for the annual service of the Nottinghamshire Society of Organists last year (1992) made me think about the rôle of music in our church. The purpose of music in worship is not to provide a concert for God, nor is it a sort of celestial talent show with marks awarded for star quality. I think that it has two aspects: from us as performers it provides a way of expressing our love and thankfulness to God, to us as listeners it may give glimpses of the glories of heaven.

I think that our musical efforts may be appreciated by God in a similar way to parents appreciating the artistic efforts of their young children. Pictures drawn by three-year-olds have a certain naïve charm and may show glimpses of a maturer style to come but they are not great art, and are only treasured because the young artist is loved. One child may be better at drawing than another, but the work of both will be welcomed by their parents. Yet neither will stand serious comparison with the work of Rembrandt or Michelangelo. In the same way, although Choral Evensong at King's College Cambridge is more musically advanced than a Taizé service at St Peter's, neither group should imagine that they are producing work worthy to be compared with the music of heaven.

The other function of music in worship is to inspire the worshipper, and it is here that the type of music becomes relevant. The question is - what sort of music will inspire people to religious understanding? I would agree that a Mozart symphony expresses the glory of God, but not everyone thinks "oh yes, God exists" while listening to such a symphony on the radio. It is only when we have understood and felt that God is the creator of all that we can see him in all his other works. I believe that one of the purposes of attending worship regularly on a Sunday is to help us to see more clearly that God is the reality behind the world on all seven days of the week. But the aim should be for us to see the world through our Sunday eyes, and not to see church through our week-day eyes. Personally I always feel uncomfortable when I hear religious words sung to music in a popular idiom. I feel as though someone is trying to fool me by smuggling religious words into music of an easily accessible secular style. For me it is helpful if the music that we hear in church is special "church music", written by composers of skill with the express intention of glorifying God. We can then go out into the world and appreciate the God-given nature of the world's music, whether classical, rock, pop, ethnic or any other sort.

Several years ago I went to a Christmas concert given by Steeleye Span at the Royal Concert Hall here in Nottingham. The concert began with Maddy Prior alone on the stage singing a capella:

I sing of a maiden that is makeless.
King of all kings to her son she ches...

...Mother and maiden was never but she.
Well may such a lady Christ's mother be.

There was a rapt silence in the hall after she finished singing, broken a few seconds later by the start of an exuberantly energetic performance of Royal Forester. It was an excellent concert, full of energy skill humour and joy, but it was the brief opening song which served to remind us of the source of that energy and joy.

Mike Leuty, October 1993


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Last revised 5th July 1997